In a sauce pan of boiling water cook the whole orange for about 10 seconds. This will soften the skin of the orange, which will be used in the recipe.

Cut off the ends and discard.

Cut the cooked fruit into sections.

In a food processor finely chop the cut up orange.

Add the 1 1/3 cups of blood orange and process until the desired texture. I like mine with some bits of rind and my husband likes his smooth. If you want the pâte to be perfectly smooth you can strain the mixture at this point.

Add the orange and the sugar to a medium size sauce pot and bring to a boil. Once it is boiling you will cook the mixture for 5 minutes. Half way through add the butter and continue to cook. Be sure to stir constantly and make sure it doesn’t boil over. You may have to adjust the temperature as you cook.

Once the mixture has cooked for the full 5 minutes turn off the heat and add the Certo.

Hello Zoe,
I was so excited to see the recipe for the fruit gelees as they have always been a passover tradition in my family. So I had to try your easy recipe. I must have erred, because they just didn’t set. So I put the syrupy jelly back in the pot and cooked until 220 on a candy thermometer. The results are delicious, but more concentrated and of course sweeter than I prefer. I followed the recipe closely{which I rarely do}, but I did continue to boil the fruit syrup after the Certo was whisked in-perhaps that was a no-no.Any hints on what kept the mixture from jelling?all I had was a gel layer on top of the syrup.
I would love to hear from you.
thanks, Donna

Yes, I did the same thing the first time around. I figured it was like making other candies and cooking it would just make it set more. But, in this case cooking the Certo prevents it from setting as well. Once you boil the syrup for the proper time, then remove from the heat and add the 2 pouches of liquid Certo.

It would work with limes, but you will have to adjust the sugar. It would probably be close to the Meyer lemon, but the limes are more sour and so you may want to add a touch more sugar? http://zoebakes.com/?p=405

The Certo is just fruit pectin so it doesn’t contain any eggs or dairy.

I’m new to rotation, but I just wanted to say that these jellies look visually stunning and i really want to try them out if there are kumquats the farmer’s market. I just made pear cranberry pomegranate lime ones which were great, but very sweet.
Are these very sweet too?
I had to boil mine for a while, but in this recipe there doesn’t seem to be a need. Have they always set with no problem?
Thanks!
If your interested, check these out! http://kitchensidecar.blogspot.com/2009/01/festive-pear-pomegranate-fruit.html

I found that the trick is to boil the fruit and then turn off the heat and add the pectin. I once forgot the sugar in the recipe and tried to add it after, by boiling it all together again and it never set up after I added heat to the pectin. The science is all very strange with this stuff, but if you follow my directions it should set just great!

That is quite a challenge! Is it not possible to set up everything and pipe the whipped cream on at the last minute. It is always best freshly whipped. If not, you may consider using something other than whipped cream, like buttercream or an icing.

There are some products that are available for stabilizing cream that you can find int he grocery store near the gelatin. I’d try it ahead of time and see what you think. Also, you may not want to use as much as they say or the cream gets a “greasy” mouth feel.

Hi Zoe, made the recipe with blood oranges. After 3 hours, still only partially set. One box of Certo contains two pouches, and I assumed those were the two pouches called for in the recipe–yes? Also, it is critical to use a glass baking dish rather than a 9-inch square metal baking pan?

This happened to me once when I tried cooking the mixture after the pectin was added to the pot. It broke down the pectin and it never set up. Is it possible that the pectin got cooked after you added it? It sounds like you used the right amount of the Certo. Is the metal a non reactive pan? In other words does the acid in the fruit seem to be discoloring the pan? If so, this could also be messing with the setting of the jellies?

I tried the strawberry version from the above comment. I didn’t let it boil after I added the liquid pectin, but 12 hours later, it still hasn’t set. I cannot bring myself to throw away 2 1/2 pints of expensive organic strawberries and all that sugar. How can I salvage this and make it edible?

I would cook it down and make preserves out of the strawberries. It will probably not set up as tight as a jam, but it will be a lovely spread for toast or over ice cream. You may need to add more sugar and perhaps some lemon juice.

Butter in Pate de fruits? That is news to me. I have been looking for pate de fruits recipe (MADE FROM FRESH FRUITS) instead of commercial purees – over-priced – and THESE RECIPES FIT THE BILL & pocket perfectly. THANKS. But could you share why you added butter? If I runt out of CERTO, can I use SureJell?

You should probably reword your recipe a little bit, considering how much trouble some people have had with it. I, too, was unable to get the fruit pate to set. I realize now that I probably should have let the mixture cool a bit before adding the pectin, but your recipe does not say to let it cool–it says to add the pectin right after the mixture has been boiling for five minutes; obviously it is still hot at that point.

I made the blood orange Pate de Fruit and after 12 hours it is still jelly like on the underside. The top is good. I have turned it over in hopes it will set. What could I have done wrong? I measured everything exactly, boiled for 2.5 min and added butter, then boiled for the remaining 2.5 minutes. The top has a skin on it but the underneath is not set up enough to cut it successfully. Maybe I should have changed pans and let the fruit mixture cool a bit?

I just tried the this passionfruit and orange but it didn’t set. I think I didn’t cook it down long enough. I saved the syrup. Maybe I can use it as topping on ice cream or maybe on shave ice. I’m definitely will try again. Maybe the strawberries and I need to get a smaller glass pan. Thanks for the recipe.

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I'm Zoë François and I love to bake. This is where I play with sugar and take the mystery out of baking everything from cookies to wedding cakes. I studied pastry at the CIA, worked in restaurants, write cookbooks and now you can also find my creations on the Cooking Channel, Fine Cooking Magazine, General Mills, Cooking Club Magazine and Breadin5.com. More...

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